Cecilie Thorsmark
Chief Executive, Copenhagen Fashion Week
The chief executive of Copenhagen Fashion Week has helped turn the regional event into a leader in sustainable fashion.
Cecilie Thorsmark is the chief executive of Copenhagen Fashion Week.
When she took on the role in 2018, the city already had a reputation as an exciting emerging fashion hub thanks to the rise of Scandi-chic labels like Ganni.
But Thorsmark saw an opportunity to differentiate the event on a different level, moving early to position it as a hub for sustainable fashion. She was helped by the fact the city’s fashion sector was already well engaged with the topic. Copenhagen is home to the Global Fashion Agenda, an industry group focused on sustainability, where Thorsmark also previously worked as communications director under former Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO Eva Kruse .
From the start, Thorsmark made centring sustainability a core pillar of Copenhagen Fashion Week. In January 2020, Thorsmark launched “Reinventing Copenhagen Fashion Week,” an ambitious three-year action plan detailing cutting-edge sustainability standards and goals, including banning all single-use plastics. Starting next year, every brand that wishes to show at Copenhagen Fashion Week must meet the requirements laid out in the plan. The organisation also now publishes an annual sustainability report that tracks progress on those goals.
Thorsmark also led Copenhagen Fashion Week during the pandemic, transitioning the physical event to a virtual one. Now, in a more open world, the event still retains elements of its pandemic state, operating in a hybrid format.
Career History
VITAL STATISTICS
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Copenhagen Fashion Week Defies the Sustainability Pullback
The event, now in its 20th year, made its name by embedding environmental responsibility into its structure. But as green initiatives slip down fashion’s corporate agenda, what does its future look like?
Copenhagen Fashion Week Defies the Sustainability Pullback
The event, now in its 20th year, made its name by embedding environmental responsibility into its structure. But as green initiatives slip down fashion’s corporate agenda, what does its future look like?
Copenhagen Fashion Week Challenges the Conventional Fashion Week System
BoF and Copenhagen Fashion Week partner for a second season, inviting industry leaders, designers, strategists and cultural experts including Esprit’s Ana Andjelic, Lagos Fashion Week founder Omoyemi Akerele, and author and sustainability strategist Alec Leach, to explore future visions for fashion weeks globally.
Copenhagen Fashion Week Challenges the Conventional Fashion Week System
BoF and Copenhagen Fashion Week partner for a second season, inviting industry leaders, designers, strategists and cultural experts including Esprit’s Ana Andjelic, Lagos Fashion Week founder Omoyemi Akerele, and author and sustainability strategist Alec Leach, to explore future visions for fashion weeks globally.
How Can the Fashion Industry Accelerate Systems Change?
Partnering with Copenhagen Fashion Week, BoF invited market leaders including Pascal Morand, Julie Gilhart, Ganni co-founder Nicolaj Reffstrup, EU Parliamentary Committee chair Dr Christian Ehler, journalist Clare Press, executives from Renewcell and Lenzing, and others from across the value chain, to work together towards actionable solutions capable of urgently altering the industry’s ecological impact.
How Can the Fashion Industry Accelerate Systems Change?
Partnering with Copenhagen Fashion Week, BoF invited market leaders including Pascal Morand, Julie Gilhart, Ganni co-founder Nicolaj Reffstrup, EU Parliamentary Committee chair Dr Christian Ehler, journalist Clare Press, executives from Renewcell and Lenzing, and others from across the value chain, to work together towards actionable solutions capable of urgently altering the industry’s ecological impact.
BoF 500 Innovators — Cecilie Thorsmark
BoF sits down with the chief executive of Copenhagen Fashion Week to understand how CPHFW transformed itself to become a sustainability leader, and how she hopes to inspire international change.
BoF 500 Innovators — Cecilie Thorsmark
BoF sits down with the chief executive of Copenhagen Fashion Week to understand how CPHFW transformed itself to become a sustainability leader, and how she hopes to inspire international change.
How Copenhagen Became Fashion’s Sustainability Capital
As regional fashion weeks struggle to stand out, Copenhagen Fashion Week is betting on a radical new approach that will require brands to meet minimum sustainability standards.
How Copenhagen Became Fashion’s Sustainability Capital
As regional fashion weeks struggle to stand out, Copenhagen Fashion Week is betting on a radical new approach that will require brands to meet minimum sustainability standards.
What is The BoF 500?
The people shaping the global fashion industry, curated by the editors of The Business of Fashion, based on nominations and on-the-ground intelligence from around the world.
